MAPUTO, Mozambique
People in southern Cabo Delgado, a Mozambican province that has been the scene of armed violence for five years, reported the discovery of four dead locals on Wednesday.
A resident of Mbonge, in
Ancuabe district, witnessed the collection of the bodies of two inhabitants of
the village, father and son, found dead with signs of violence on the path that
connects the fields and the houses.
“The victims lived in the
village and were returning from the ‘machamba’ (vegetable garden) during the
afternoon,” on Tuesday, he reported.
According to the same source,
the bodies were found on the banks of the Muaguide river, hours after residents
found the delay of both strange. This raised suspicions given the insecurity in
Ancuabe, with attacks since June.
The district is about 100
kilometres from Pemba, the provincial capital.
Another resident in Metoro, in
the same district, told about relatives of an elderly couple found dead in a
vegetable garden 10 kilometres from the population centre, also showing signs
of aggression.
“We are crying” about the
situation, he said, and there is “fear” of returning to the ‘machambas’, said
another resident.
Different local sources
confirmed the case.
The population and local
authorities suspect that these killings near the Muaguide river and in the
surroundings of Metoro are the work of an armed group hiding in the woods of
that area.
On Monday, an unidentified
group of hooded men with guns looted and burnt houses in Nacuale, another
village in the district.
An insurgent movement whose
origins remain unclear has terrorised Cabo Delgado since October 2017.
A military offensive with
support from several African countries liberated areas around gas projects in
northern Cabo Delgado a year ago, but scattered groups have attacked elsewhere
in the province.
Since June, violence has hit
the Ancuabe area to the south, near Pemba, the provincial capital.
The United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned in July of the severity of these new
attacks, causing 36,000 displaced people in districts hitherto considered safe.
The figure is in addition to
the approximately 800,000 displaced people already affected by the wave of
violence, with the death toll estimated at least 4,000 victims. - Lusa
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